Cover Your Eyes

A lack of galactic space time has forced me to go backwards for the One Sound Every Day project, but I hope you’ll enjoy this track from Keston and Westdal’s latest release, One Day to Save All Life. Cover Your Eyes started out as a loop of sustained Rhodes notes that I had dropped into Ableton Live during a rehearsal for a show. If I remember correctly, we ended up performing the piece the same night that we created it. I love the samples Nils added that are destroyed with processing creating some complex and swirling textures throughout the piece.

Cover Your Eyes

 

Reverberated Graintable Noise

I produced this sound by programming a scale in a MIDI clip and then sending it to a virtual instrument designed to allow for freely manipulating granular synthesis through several seven point envelopes. I made several takes while I adjusted the envelops and other parameters.

One warning, this take has some piercingly high frequencies in a few places. The sound reminds me of some sort of scrambled futuristic alarm system. This led me to adding a warehouse reverb to the mix to put in into sci-fi thriller territory.

Reverberated Grain Table Noise

Random Parameter Keyboard Mash

With very little time for today’s sound I resorted to randomizing the parameters in Pluggo’s xmod synth, then resampling the results as I dragged the mouse up and down on the virtual keyboard in Ableton Live’s sequencer. I often use this technique with a variety of VSTs as a starting point to get a new sound, so I thought I’d lay it down, so you can hear a little behind-the-scenes audio.

Random Parameter Keyboard Mash

Good Copy Bad Copy

The conversation happening under Acceptable Use of Factory Presets and Samples? is starting to reflect the subject matter that is examined in the film Good Copy Bad Copy, so I thought it would be a good idea to reference it here in case any ACB readers haven’t seen it yet. I have been showing this one hour long documentary to friends and students since its release in 2007 and highly recommend it.

Good Copy Bad Copy is a fascinating look at the current state of copyright law and how it clashes with popular culture. The film has extended interviews with artists like Danger Mouse and Girl Talk, industry big wigs like Dan Glickman CEO of the MPAA, and IP and music copyright expert Dr. Lawrence Ferrara director of the music department at NYU. It covers the Brazilian phenomenon Techno Brega, a form of electronic music that merges western pop songs with latin styles, and takes a look at the rapidly expanding Nigerian film industry. The film can be viewed here at ACB, at their website, or legally downloaded from a torrent (www.goodcopybadcopy.net).

Dark Chorused Guitar

I am not, nor will I ever claim to be a guitarist, so please forgive the playing in this example. I do like the sound I have achieved here though. To get it I ran a cheap Fender Squire through VST distortion, thickly modulated chorus, followed by delay, and reverb. It’s very 80s, although I was not necessarily going for that. I does seem to go well in the piece in which it was recorded.

Oxotremorine Guitar Sound